Strickland Fitness

I decided to make a list of the top 10 excuses people use to stray away from their health and fitness goals. But I’m not going to stop there. Each is followed by an answer to that excuse.

 

1. “I don’t have the time.”

Make the time! If anything in life is important enough, time can be made. It’s all a matter of priorities.

2. “I can’t afford a gym membership.”

Not all gyms are expensive. There are some out there that cheaper than you think. You can also do exercises at home with little to no weights needed. Check out http://stricklandfitness.com/2008/11/20/2-full-body-exercises/

3. “I just don’t know what to do.”

It can be scary starting to work out and not know what to do. However, there are plenty of good websites out there (like this one  ) with free content to get you started.

4. “I need to lose a lot of weight and it seems like it will take forever.”

Shorten your goals to a month. If your goal is to lose 25 pounds, start by trying to lose 5. Once you reach that goal, try for another 5. Before you know it, you will have lost all 25. Read http://stricklandfitness.com/2008/11/17/short-term-goals-long-term-success/

5. “I know myself, and I can never commit to anything.”

Begin a program with a friend. Accountability is key.

6. “I’ll start soon.”

Start now! If you do, 6 months from now, you’ll be glad you did. Trust me!!!

7. “I’m not in good shape and everyone at the gym seems to be. “

Everyone at the gym is working towards their goal. That is what they are focusing on. Put your focus on your goals and not on other’s perception of them.

8. “I’m afraid people at the gym will laugh or stare at me while I’m exercising.”

To tell you the truth, I only laugh and stare at the people who walk around the gym doing nothing. To me, that’s funny. If you are worried about your form, work out with a friend or in front of a mirror to make sure you have correct form.

9. “I’m already in pretty good shape, and I don’t do anything.”

The outside doesn’t always match the inside. Working out and doing cardio is great for stress relief, prevention of heart disease, controlled cholesterol and blood pressure, and overall well-being.

10. “I have been working out but I haven’t seen any results.”

You have to mix it up or you might be overtraining. If you don’t change your routine, your body goes into autopilot and plateaus. You have to keep it guessing. Overtraining can also slow down results. Be sure to get plenty of rest between workouts and eat a healthy diet.

Ok, we are down to the last 2 challenges. With a workout at least every other day, you should be feeling fit! Let’s do a tough one to end the week! Give it everything you got and walk away feeling great! Go through each series of exercises twice. Once completed, put a check mark in the box for Oct. 30^th. If you don’t know how to do the listed exercises, there are explanations of them in previous posts for the October Challenge.

 

The Workout

10 minutes warm up

 

No rest between exercises…

15 body squats

12 push ups

20 isolated ab crunches

12 tricep extensions

On any cardio apparatus, do 15 seconds as fast as you can, followed by 15 seconds rest. Do 8 times.

2 minutes rest

 

12 Lat pull downs

12 bicep curls

12 1-leg squats

1 minute plank with limb raises

On any cardio apparatus, do 15 seconds as fast as you can, followed by 15 seconds rest. Do 8 times.

2 minutes rest

 

12 squat presses

20 isolated ab crunches

12 side lunges each direction

12 shoulder raises

On any cardio apparatus, do 15 seconds as fast as you can, followed by 15 seconds rest. Do 8 times.

 

Cool down

 

Use of any knowledge from this website is voluntary. By reading this post, you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the disclaimer in the about section of this website. Thanks for participating!

I hope you had fun putting a workout together! In the comment section, you can post your workout to give others ideas. The challenge for today is to do 1 full hour of steady state cardio. Keep your heart rate between 50%-65% of your maximum heart rate without going over or under. The other part of today’s challenge is to read this workout that a challenger put together for yesterday’s challenge (it’s in the comment section). http://stricklandfitness.com/2009/10/27/challenge-13/

After you have completed this, put a check mark in the box for Oct. 28^th. Great Job!!!!

 

Use of any knowledge from this website is voluntary. By reading this post, you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the disclaimer in the about section of this website. Thanks for participating!

 

Ok, we are heading down the homestretch! Only a few days left in the challenge and I hope everyone is feeling fantastic!! If you have done the previous challenges, you should have a good feel for your body and know it a lot better than before. You should have also learned some new exercises and have cardio and intervals down. So the challenge for today is to create your own workout…and then do it. Try to hit all body parts and do a solid set of intervals at the end. Once completed, put a check mark in the box for Oct. 27^th. Great Job!! And read this…

http://stricklandfitness.com/2008/12/16/work-hard/

 

Workout

10 minutes warming up

30 minutes full body workout

25 minutes intervals

5-10 minutes cool down

 

Ok challengers, it’s time to shred the upper body again! Let’s end the week with a bang. Push yourself. Keep your goals in mind. We are trying to build lean muscle and burn fat. So for the purpose of this challenge, we will be sticking to medium weights, doing more repetitions, and reducing our recovery time between sets to keep the heart rate slightly elevated. If you are trying to build bulk muscle, heavier weights and more rest between sets will be needed. There will not be separate workouts for the beginners and more advanced. Everyone will do the same workout with the amount of weight being the difference. This workout is for the gym. If you do not belong to a gym, you can use anything at home that you can hold in one hand.

You will only get out of this workout what you put into it. Challenge yourself and keep it intense!! Before you start, read this: http://stricklandfitness.com/2009/01/22/intensity/.

 

Here is a description of all the exercises you will need for the workout:

Push-ups: (works the chest, triceps, and shoulders) Always start on your hands and feet and drop to the knees if needed to complete the set.

Lat Pulls: (works the Lats. See this for more details, http://stricklandfitness.com/2008/10/22/back-not-bis/) The lat pull machine requires you to use your back and biceps. It’s the machine that you sit down on and pull the weight down. Pull the weight down to the front of your chin, not behind your head. As you are pulling the weight down, try and pull your shoulder blades into your back pocket throughout the movement. This ensures you are using your lats and not only your arms. Be sure to keep your back straight. Don’t lean back.

Military Press: (works the shoulders and traps, or top of the shoulders) Sit on a bench with a back support. Start with the dumbbells in front of your shoulders with your palms facing toward you. Press above your head while twisting your palms to face away from you.

Isolated Abdominal Crunches: (works the abs) see challenge #3.

Straight Arm Shoulder Raises: (works the front and side of shoulders) With the dumbbells at your side, palms facing toward your body, raise the weight to your sides until shoulder height and then lower. Keep your arms straight through the entire movement. Raise the weight now to the front and lower. Alternate between the side and front. Keep your back straight.

Tricep Extensions: (works the triceps, or back of the arms) Standing with a straight back and a small bend in the knees, hold a dumbbell with both hands straight above your head. Bending only at the elbows, slowly lower the weight behind your head and then extend back to above your head. Do not move your head forward to let the weight pass behind it.

Bicep Curls: (works the biceps, or front of the arms) Standing with a straight back and a slight bend in the knees, hold a dumbbell in each hand. Imagine that your elbows are pinned to your sides. Starting with the weights down by your waist, slowly bring the weight up to your shoulders by bending at the elbow. Be sure the elbow doesn’t move and your body remains perfectly still throughout the movement.

 

The Workout

For each exercise, choose a weight that you can do 12-15 repetitions with the last 3 reps being difficult to do while maintaining good form.

10 minute warm-up

In the order mentioned above, do 12-15 repetitions of each exercise with no rest between them. Work hard and intense. Focus on the muscle you are using for each exercise. Make a mind – muscle connection!! After 1 series, rest for 2 minutes. Repeat the series 2-3 more times with 2 minutes rest between each series for a total of 3-4 series.

10 minute cool down

 

Once completed, put a check in the box for Oct. 23rd. Great job!!!

 

 

Use of any knowledge from this website is voluntary. By reading this post, you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the disclaimer in the about section of this website. Thanks for participating!